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Using Habitica for Schoolwork
School can be tiring and stressful, but with Habitica, a player can easily beat procrastination and manage schoolwork! By simply using Habits, Dailies, To-Dos, and Rewards to motivate themselves, they can lower their stress and improve their grades. The system being suggested here should take less than an hour in set-up time and should amply repay that investment. Suggested Method List Your Subjects On the Tasks page, enter a tag for the name of each subject, e.g. Chemistry, Math, or Accounting for Managers 101. Once you've set up your tasks, each time you click on a tag, only the tasks relating to that tag will be visible. List Your Tasks Click one tag and enter everything you need to do as a task. You will have to choose whether this is a Daily, a Habit or a To-Do. To-Dos are once-off tasks, like major assignments. Dailies are things that you must do, every day or week, like homework. And Habits are the things you should do frequently, perhaps more than once a day and on a flexible basis, like revision. Because you have used the tag function, everything you enter will be tagged with that subject. Each of your subjects has certain required tasks, which will vary from subject to subject. For best results, you should list all the things you should do to get a good grade. The following sections provide some examples. It’s up to you to put your list together, but it is best to try not to leave anything out. Assigned Homework Some types of homework are likely to be regularly assigned and can be added as Dailies. You can set the Dailies to only trigger on certain days or once per week. Major Assignments Major assignments are usually once-off tasks, typically comprising several steps. They will often be best placed in the To-Do list. You can track your progress by using a checklist. Reading or Studying Assigned Texts Generally speaking, you will need to schedule your minimum reading every week, which makes this a good item to put under Dailies. Extra Reading Extra reading and study can deepen and broaden your knowledge and improve your results. Looking for extra resources is a good Habit. Revision Regular revision is often key to good results, by integrating all you have learned. Because memory and repetition go well together, this may work best as a Daily. Presentations Some subjects have weekly presentations required, which could be treated similarly to homework. Others require one or two major presentations, which could be treated as a major assignment (a To-Do with a checklist). Studying for Exams As the exams approach, you may need to set regular time aside for studying. You might want to use a combination of Dailies (to make sure a minimum amount gets done) and Habits (to reward yourself for extra effort). Other Tasks Typically you will have a long list of tasks, some of which may not be covered above. Perhaps you are doing a science topic and, instead of assigned homework, you might put down: * Lab session * Lab report A Full Study Program After completing the list of tasks for one subject, you can then select a different tag and repeat the process. Soon you can have your entire work program listed in Habitica. Now you have a system! Tag by tag, you can go through each subject at the beginning of the day and when you get home. You’ll be prompted to remember what to do and to get it done. And you will rewarded, as gold, experience points, and mana will shower down on you for having completed your tasks. Be rewarded immediately for the work you do. General Study Habits Some things are not specific to a single subject. Listing your study habits can help develop your overall approach. Habits can be positive or negative. Add Habits that help you to become the student you want to be, and avoid slipping into bad habits. Here are some good examples: Positive Habits Use positive (+) Habits to praise yourself for things such as: * Understanding a subject completely * Receiving a good grade on an assignment or assessment * Studying for a long period of time (if you have trouble with distractions, consider using the Pomodoro tracking technique to mark off each uninterrupted work session) * Keeping an organized studying area * Reading a chapter before class * Asking your teacher for help * Paying attention to your health * Studying with someone Negative Habits Use negative (-) Habits to discipline yourself for things such as: * Procrastination * Logging onto social media before homework is finished * Not paying attention in class * Neglecting sleep * Receiving a bad grade on an assignment or assessment, having neglected to study for it * Having a disorganized studying area Rewards A person can't expect to have amazing grades if they don't award themselves! Make sure to use your Gold Points to purchase some Rewards. You can also get creative and customize them! Some examples of customized rewards are: * Play your favorite game for 30 minutes * Watch an episode of your favorite show * Use some fancy bath products (e.g. bath bombs or bath salts) * Drink hot chocolate or tea * Cook your favorite meal * Get a manicure or pedicure (you can even do it at home!) Tips * For large To-Dos, put in a checklist of the steps that you must take to complete the task (initial research, testing your thesis, writing up, proofreading and so on). This will enable you to see your progress and check things off as you complete them. * Don’t forget to assist your studying by putting in sensible sleep and exercise goals. Play the 'long game' in studying. * Rewards are an important part of self-motivation. Praise and reward yourself often. * Use Habitica sensibly. There is so much fun and interesting content on the site that Habitica itself can become a time sink. Limit the number of guilds you join and the time you spend in them. Or make the social side of Habitica a Reward! * Set due dates for your schoolwork To-Dos. You can do so under the Due Date section of the To-Do edit screen. * Join a party to motivate yourself to complete your tasks! The possibility of other people losing health because of a player's actions can really inspire that player to finish their Dailies. * If you know a Daily is coming up but has not yet started, insert it now with a start date. It will not be active until the set start date. Imagine you check your syllabus and see that your final exam is on December 20. You decide to start studying one month in advance, so you create a Daily with a start date of November 20. It’s still September, so your “Study for Final” Daily isn’t due, and it won’t hurt your avatar. But when November 20 rolls around, that “Study for Final” Daily will pop up in your list, reminding you to open those books and get cracking! Other Helpful Resources Guilds that are focused in learning and goal-setting can be helpful toward completing your schoolwork. They are filled with helpful, friendly Habiticans. See the School Work and General Accountability guilds. You can also look at the Habitica Blog. For example, there is a post on using Habitica for learning and a School Resources category. Final Tip: Stay on Track Every so often, it helps to monitor your progress. Is there schoolwork that is not getting done? Perhaps you need to add to your task list. Are there items on your list that are now second nature to you? Perhaps they no longer need to be there. You can change tasks' difficulty rating, if things turn out to be easier or harder than you first thought. Make sure that your Habitica tasking is helping you in school. The outcome should be less stress, more productivity and some guilt-free Reward time! Category:Methodologies